The television industry has seen rapid development in the number of ways in which television programming can be delivered to and received by individual television sets in homes. While at one time, the only means for providing television programming signal to a television set was through the use of broadcasting signals and antenna reception, recent years have seen the development of cable and satellite transmission. These improved transmission methods have not only increased the quality of television viewing but have the ability to provide increased amounts and different kinds of data to the individual television for viewing and/or interacting. For example, it is now common for Internet access to be supplied through the same cable and/or transmission methods used to provide television program signals.
In order to display the various kinds of incoming signals/data on a television screen for a user in tangible form, various kinds of hardware and software, commonly referred to as receivers, are needed to decipher and/or decode the incoming signals. Receivers can be manufactured to be separate from television and set atop the television or can be built directly into the television itself. Many receivers have multiple ports for simultaneously receiving various kinds of incoming signals to be displayed on the television screen, such as television program signals, Internet data signals, or a signal from any type of local device, such as a VCR, a DVD player, or a popular video game console. However, because of the limited display area available on a television screen, it is common that only one type of signal be displayed on the television screen at any one time. While television sets do exist that have picture-in-picture capabilities that allow more than one signal to be displayed at once, only one signal is displayed in the primary display area of the television screen at any one time. Television viewers rarely view a program or any other application in the secondary display area for any extended amount of time.
Receivers are designed so that a user can easily change the signal that is being displayed on a television screen by entering the appropriate command into the receiver. Such user commands are inputted by a remote control device such as an infrared remote control. For example, suppose a particular receiver is designed to receive both an incoming television program signal and an interactive application signal, such as a browser signal that provides data from the World Wide Web. When the receiver is in television program mode, the incoming television signal is decoded (if necessary) and displayed on the television screen so the user can view a channel of the television program signal that is tuned in. Similarly, if the receiver is switched to the browser mode, the incoming browser signal will be decoded (if necessary) and displayed on the television screen so the user can interact with and navigate the World Wide Web.
In existing receivers, when a user wishes to switch from one mode to another, the user will press a “Change Mode” or similar key on a remote control device. In existing receivers that provide Internet access via a television, the remote control device will have “Web” key that when pressed will switch the receiver to browser mode if currently in television program mode and vice versa.
As the popularity of accessing and using the Internet (and other interactive applications) in a television setting increases, the profitability of advertising in these browser screens will also increase. Thus, a need exists for methods and apparatus that will increase the number of times in which a user accesses browser mode. However, increasing the number of occurrences of browser access should be done in such a way so as to minimize interference with a user's television program viewing.
Another common feature of existing receivers is the ability to automatically tune in a previously viewed channel upon receipt of a go-back command from a user when the receiver is in television program mode. For example, assume a user has the receiver in television program mode and has channel 4 tuned in for viewing on the television screen. Thereafter, the user changes the channel via the appropriate change channel command, tuning in channel 8. The user can automatically tune in and view the previously tuned channel, channel 4, by simply sending a go-back command to the receiver by pressing a go-back key on a remote control device. As such, a user can tune into a previously viewed channel without the need to remember the channel number.
In existing receivers, the go-back feature is limited to functioning within a single receiver mode and cannot be used to return to the most previously viewed content if that content was in a different mode. For example, if a user was browsing the Internet and then switched to television program mode by entering the appropriate command, the go-back command, when entered, would not return the user to the browser mode. The same is true if the user was watching a specific channel on television program mode and switched the receiver to browser mode. Thus, a need exists for apparatus and methods that will return a user to the most previously viewed item regardless of the mode in which the content exists.
Moreover, it is common that many television viewers do not like to watch and/or hear commercials that frequently interrupt the television programs that they are watching. Often, a viewer will mute the audio component of the tuned channel during a commercial break and wait for the desired program to return before un-muting the audio component of the tuned channel. This time is wasted both from the perspective of the viewer and from the perspective of potential browser mode advertisers. Thus, a need exists to be able to automatically switch a receiver to browser mode upon receiving an input signal from a user to mute the audio component of a tuned channel.
However, not all viewers wish to mute a tuned channel or change modes because they may miss a portion of the program that they were watching. A need exists to provide viewers who wish to avoid watching commercial breaks with a satisfactory way of automatically switching to browser mode when a commercial break starts and automatically returns back to television program mode without resulting in the viewer missing a substantial amount of the desired television program.
It is typical for receivers having browser mode and Internet capabilities to have the ability to download and store large amounts of data. One problem with downloading is that some downloads can take long periods of time to complete. During this time, the user must wait patiently. However, the user often becomes bored and wishes to undertake other tasks or be amused in some way, such as watching a television program. Thus, a need exists for an apparatus and method that automatically switches the receiver to television program mode during the downloading of large amounts of data and returns to browser mode upon completion of the download.